Thunder of Our Hearts - Take 2
by JRWStudios
Summary: When Cloud starts remembering a forgotten world, he remembers a forgotten face: a woman who was held fast to his heart. But when her arrival in his world brings forth new enemies, can Cloud step up to the challenge of becoming a god? Disclaimer: All characters belong to Square Enix. Take 2 is a re-write of a completed story by the same name you can find on my profile.
1. Prologue: Chance Encounter

Prologue: Chance Encounter

There was that smell again, hanging thick in the air of the field which a lone swordsman now crossed. It was a smell he, as well as many of his so-called "comrades" had come to recognize as the scent left by a shattered crystalline copy they called mannequins. However unlike the many times before, this time the smell was heavy in the field around him, leaving him to believe it was fresh, and perhaps an enemy warrior was nearby, felling the mannequins that were roaming so annoyingly free across the land they were stuck upon. Not caring either way, the man wandered across an open stretch of plain to one the Chaos locked gates, hoping to make it back to the camp his fellow warriors had set up for themselves. He didn't think it'd be too big of a hassle, just walk over to the gate and make his way back, but any hope he had of that happening was dashed when he noticed a woman with rose colored hair standing over the shattered body of a mannequin. It was an enemy he had seen many times before, but never so closely, and in the flesh only a handful of times. She noticed him before she even looked up, he could tell by the way she adjusted her grip on her gunblade.

"You just keep showing up in the background, huh?"

"I could say the same to you." he watched her turn to look at him, an icy glare crossing her blue eyes. "You're a friend of Tifa's right? I've seen you with her before."

"How do you know Tifa? And why do you keep showing up where I am?"

"I have a few memories of her, and chance. I'm not following you if that's what you're implying." he started to walk for the gate again, but stopped when he saw her hand twitch on her weapon. "Look, I don't want to fight you, any of you. I'm just wandering around so the rest of Chaos's warriors will stop being such a bother."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I don't care if you do or don't, but if you don't let us part ways here, I'll have no choice but to fight you to save my own ass."

"Then you better draw that sword of yours!"

* * *

There he was again, that blond with the massive sword. He was trying to hurry out of her line of sight, no doubt having learned to stay away from her after having lost so many fights to her in during their recent encounters. True to his word the first time they had spoken, he had hardly tried to fight her, installing opting on defending himself until he either collapsed or had a chance to escape. She was about to go ahead and let him move on, but she noticed an oddly hard look on his usually bored or indifferent seeming face. For some reason it concerned her.

"Hey, blondie," she called out, half hoping he would keep walking. But he stopped, and fixed her in such a determined look she felt a tinge of fear, the thought of a fight wanting swordsman running her through with a broadsword wider than her waist flashing through her mind and making her give those suddenly daunting looking muscles he had a wary glance. "You okay? You don't seem to be quite so done with everything today."

"Because I'm not, and you shouldn't be here," the edge to his voice made her once again imagine her demise coming from the blade on his back. "You need to go find Tifa for me, and keep her safe."

"Why?" her curiosity got the better of her, and wasn't eased even slightly when he gave his surroundings a cautious look before moving closer to her.

"I'm getting tired of all this, and the more of my memories I seem to regain, the more I realize this isn't right." he was speaking low, making her realize his words were meant for her and her alone. "But Sephiroth keeps wiping my memories as fast as I get them back. He wants to keep me as his puppet, and try as I may I never remember enough to realize why. What he doesn't know, though, is I've been keeping track of other things in this world, things he wouldn't think to erase from my mind."

"Things like what?"

"Like where Chaos is," the man's voice had deepened in anger. "And once I figure out how to get there on my own, I'm going to get rid of him, or at least try."

"That's a fight you won't be able to win."

"I know, but even dying at his hands is a better alternative to being a sociopath's puppet."

"What about Tifa?"

"Keep her safe for me."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Realizing suddenly she had walked into a situation she couldn't escape, the woman steeled her nerves. "You really want to get off Chaos's side?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll tell you, but not here. If you're really the double-agent you seem to be trying to be, meet me in the snowfields tonight, and I'll tell you everything I can."

"You mean, everything you think I should know, without throwing caution to the wind."

"You catch on fast."

The man nodded, and gave her a brief salute before beginning to walk off then. "Tonight then."

"Yeah."

* * *

"Blondie? Hey blondie? You here?" the woman snuck through the shadows cast by the jagged rocks of the snowfields, looking for the blond swordsman she had asked to meet her there. Not that she actually expected him to show up, but she had to at least try to be hopeful.

"Here," his voice came from a hidden alcove near the frozen sands of an iced over shoreline. "You alone?"

"Are you?" she approached cautiously, ready to either retreat or fight, but when he stepped into her view with a smirk on his face, she relaxed. "You are."

"How can you tell?"

"You're showing emotions."

"Whatever. So what was it you wanted to tell me that required us to be in the one area even the mannequins don't frequent?"

"Well it just so happens to involve the mannequins." she stepped into the shelter of the alcove and allowed herself to sit near one of its walls. He slowly did the same, and when he fixed her in a look full of expectation, she finally spoke again.

"What's your name?"

"Hm?"

"We've fought all this time, but I still don't know your name. If I'm going to tell you what I know, I want your name."

"…Cloud Strife," came the hesitant answer, and a soft blue gaze.

"Lightning Farron, but the others call me Light."

"How fitting. A name like that suits you well."

"I wish I could say the same to you." she scoffed.

"What do you know about the mannequins?"

"I know where they're coming from, and how to keep them from continuing to gather in this world. One of your so-called comrades let it slip to one of mine. Once we finish getting ready for the fight, we're going to go seal the portal that's letting them flood."

"That's a tall-order for anyone. Can you do it?"

"I don't know, but I'd kick myself if I didn't at least try."

"Like my fight with Chaos."

"Exactly."

"Then I think we'll both need a bit of luck." Lightning was surprised when he held out a hand to her. "What? I'm not going to do anything."

"Yet." she slowly slipped her hand into his, and was surprised at the warmth she felt radiating from it. "Cloud?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you always seem to end up where I was? If Tifa is the one you're so keen on keeping safe, why is it me that always sees you?"

"I don't know. At first I think it was just chance, but then I started becoming more interested in you, and I think the gates picked up on that and started throwing me out near where you were or had been."

"Interested in me? Why?"

He paused, thinking for a minute, and staring out into the snow. "I think… It was your strength, and resolve at first, and later your confidence, and maybe even you abilities and grace when using them."

Lightning couldn't stop the heat that seemed to rapidly spread through her, no doubt to her face as well. "I think you're speaking a bit too freely about something you should probably keep to yourself."

He looked at her again, and she saw something had come over his expression and made it unreadable. "You think so? I can't help it though. I can hardly hold my tongue around the rest of Chaos's pawns anymore, I've had to try and avoid your comrades altogether, and then the second you speak to me its like every fiber of my being, every inch of the facade I keep up at camp, it disappears."

"You're still speaking too freely."

"I don't know. After all, I'm about to go fight a God. Maybe these are things I need to get off my chest before I do."

"Before you fight your final fight?"

"A man who knows he's about to die is liable to spill everything without a second thought."

"Then don't die."

"I could say the same to you."

* * *

How many nights had they met in secret now? How many nights had they spilled the secrets of their comrades and their plans? How many nights had it taken before it came to this? This brushing of skin and grasping at straws? How long had it been since they had been enemies?

"We're setting out for the portal tomorrow," Lightning had broken the pleasant silence that had settled on the alcove they had claimed.

"I'm heading to Chaos's throne tomorrow," came Cloud's quiet reply.

They shared a moment together before grasping desperately at each other again, knowing it would likely be the last time they saw each other.

It would end being a bit of a half-truth, with Lightning returning to her world with her task complete, and Cloud returning after being brought into the war for another cycle, this time on the side of Cosmos. Neither of them would realize until later, that their encounters in this war of the gods would alter their fates later on.


	2. Chapter 1: Glimpse

Chapter 1: Glimpse

There were images flashing all around the rose haired warrior as she fell through the thick layer of black smoke surrounding her. Some were of her friends, her family, her home, of the battles she had faced and the enemies she had overcome, the journey she and her friends had embarked on to find their salvation… Seeing these images calmed her racing heart, if only slightly, before the sound of rolling thunder led her gaze to other images. These showed her clearly, but the people around her, fighting by her side against enemies she didn't know or remember.

Then there was a man, first shown fighting against her, then standing at her side, embracing her, comforting her. Who was this man with the glowing sky blue eyes and sunshine hair? Why did seeing him wrap a comforting smell of metal and sweat around her? What was it about him that made her heart twist?

" _Cloud Strife,"_ a man's voice reached her ears as she watched one of the images unfold into what seemed to be a lost memory, but whatever he was going to say next was cut off as she fell through the smoke once more, and entered a long tunnel of large turning gears.

How much has been lost to her, if the images had been from her own memories? If those really had been her memories, where had they come from?

If they really were her memories, where was Cloud?

In this tunnels her memories once again played around her, this time on strips that wound around her like bright yellow lines. She searched desperately among them, looking for that man, but saw no trace of him there, until flashes of battles she didn't remember being a part of began replaying around her, and she saw him there again.

In the blink of an eye, though, she was no longer in this strange tunnel of turning wheels and memories, she was opening her eyes to find herself on a beach of dark sand. The woman lifted herself from the sand, and after touching her head momentarily looked around to find herself in a world of ruins and stone buildings, with a towering buildings with large green hoops and adornments dotting all over, and a castle of this kind standing high over the rest of the landscape.

Almost instinctively, she started for it, not knowing what would happen next.

* * *

 _Thunder rolled in the sky, and lightning flashed all around. In the bright flashes of light the images of a woman standing strong in silver armor seemed to appear and disappear, pushing the man who was watching them to wait for another glimpse._

 _Why this was, he didn't know, but a part of him was longing to see that woman stand before him again._

 _{...oud? Cloud?} a voice was calling out to him, but he knew somehow that it didn't belong to the woman he was waiting for. {Cloud it's time to get up.}_

Cloud murmured, screwing up his face as he tried to hold fast to the visions that were fading away as fast as the lightning now. He was being shaken now, albeit lightly, but it was enough to make the visions disappear for good before he finally opened his eyes. Cloud half unwillingly looked up at the face of his friend.

"Tifa."

"Good morning Cloud," she smiled, "It's time for breakfast."

"Okay," he muttered, trying to hold on to the fragments of his dream. The man slowly got out of bed taking a moment to stretch before following her down to the kitchen behind the bar. Tifa gave him another smile as she walked over to the table where Marlene and Denzel were already sitting, digging into the food that had been prepared. Cloud tousled Denzel's hair as he sat beside him, looking at his own plate for a minute before beginning to eat.

"That must've been some dream you were having Cloud," Tifa watched him for a minute before sipping her coffee. "You were muttering about lightning, and I think you said something like ' _that woman_ '?"

"Makes sense," he chewed thoughtfully on a piece of bacon before looking at his friend. "I was having a dream about a woman, but I couldn't see her except when lightning was flashing. Thing is, it felt like I knew her, I just don't know how."

Denzel looked curious. "That's weird to dream about."

"It is," Tifa agreed. "It could just be a dream, Cloud."

"Didn't feel like it." Cloud poked at the eggs on his plate.

"Well it won't do you any good to think about it now. Eat, drink your coffee, and _then_ worry about the dream, but I'm telling you now, Cloud, it was probably just that: a dream." the woman shook her head, but gave him a smile.

That smile, when he saw it he remembered something else entirely.

It came as a shock when his mind was blasted back in time to a world he didn't remember. All he saw was that woman alongside Tifa and some others he didn't recognize, and though he couldn't make out the details of her appearance he could clearly see her loving, gentle smile as she faded away. He felt himself being lifted upward, away from them as they faded, and realized he was also fading.

And then he was back in the kitchen, no longer sitting but standing, his plate on the floor and the others staring at him in shock.

"Cloud?" Marlene was speaking softly, giving him a look like she was scared to reach out to him. "Are you okay?"

"I… I don't know," he reached up and clutched his head as he sat back down. "I just looked at Tifa and then… I don't know, I was seeing something else."

"Something like what?" Denzel looked up from cleaning the food off the floor.

"I saw that woman from my dream, I think. And Tifa was there, and some others I couldn't really see…. They were all fading, but the woman seemed so, I dunno, at peace with it?"

"I was there?" Tifa was confused now. "I was… fading?"

"I was too, but not the same way," Cloud nodded. "This can't be a coincidence."

* * *

' _Coincidences? No such thing_ ,' Yellow eyes narrowed as they watched what was unfolding. ' _These are not coincidences little wolf, and you will soon learn that the hard way if you don't open your eyes and your mind to the truth!_ '

* * *

' _Beyond time, beyond life and death, another world of shifting gloom: the chaotic realm of the goddess Etro_ ,' in the years since she had fallen into Valhalla, Lighting had come to learn what this place was, and what she could do to protect it. Years that had passed as quickly as moments, Lightning walked down the stone stairs towards the crystal throne that stood high above her again and again.

She reached out to the throne, and placing her other hand above her heart she could see all of time. From here, she had watched both past and future for any sign of error, watching as her sister and the hunter called Noel had gone to carry out her the mission she gave them. She watched the events of the thirteen days that had brought her and her friends together, watched herself be written out of history. Lightning had watched each new event change the future, sometimes many times a day, and watched each new future become either terrifying, or bright. But this time as visions filled her head, she saw that man from her memories, now standing at her side in armor of his own. After all the time she spent searching for him among the timeline he had never appeared, and now there he was at the very edge of it, appearing briefly alongside her with another man, standing among Valhalla's creatures. Though the reason for it wasn't clear, the threat that brought him to Valhalla in the first place was. His world was soon to be in danger, and he had no idea.

She needed to find him, fast.

Lightning reached out into the timeline to find this man in it, and traced him back to a world at the other end of the void she had been dragged across. It was a world that seemed parallel to her own, another branch of the Historia Crux, and as she focused on it she found that its timeline, too, was clear to her.

"Cloud Strife," she murmured trying to figure out which sighting of him was his current "present". "There you are."


	3. Chapter 2: Reaching Out

Chapter 2: Reaching Out

Cloud held his head in his hands as he stared at the papers in front of him, unable to focus on what he was reading as he tried to figure out where those forgotten memories were from. More and more, memories seemed to flood his mind, yet they stayed just vague enough to stay at the edge of his reach.

Then, all of sudden, he was thrown into a world of white, much like when Aerith or Zack would come to speak with him. Thinking one of them might have realized something was wrong, he looked around expectantly, but paused when he noticed a beautiful blonde in a long white dress standing not too far away.

{ _Cloud, it's been some time._ }

"Do I… know you?"

{ _Yes, at least, you did once._ } she walked forward slowly, uneasily, as if she hadn't stood on her own feet for sometime. { _I am, no, I was the Goddess of Harmony, Cosmos. You, and your friend Tifa, as well as the others you saw standing with her, you were some of my chosen warriors once._ }

"Excuse me?"

{ _Those memories are from a distant world, one that may very well call upon you again one day. When your job was done and you returned to your world, your memories of mine were locked away._ }

"Then why am I remembering them now?"

{ _Something is happening, something that deems your recollection to be necessary. It's that necessity that brought me here to speak with you, to confirm what you already know but don't want to believe._ }

"You mean-"

{ _Your world is in danger once again, Cloud. But this time it is a threat that isn't as easy to face as the challenges you have overcome previously. This threat has set a ripple down the time stream of your world, and rewritten your fate. By the time this is all come to pass, you will no longer be the man you are now._ }

"I… don't suppose you can tell me about the threat?"

She shook her head. { _I am but a vision, Cloud, born of your subconscious and the bit of my power that still resides in your heart. I can't tell you anymore than this, not because I don't want to, but because I no longer have the power to._ }

"I understand. Thank you for this."

Cosmos dipped her head, and let herself fade. Only a moment later Cloud found himself sitting back at his desk, still staring blankly at the papers. After a brief glance over them he stood, he looked at the photos sitting on his desk and walked out the door. Tifa met him on the stairs, a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Oh, Cloud," she smiled, and held the cup out to him. "Taking a break?"

"Yeah, can't seem to get anything done today." he was careful to take the cup, and took a sip before looking at her again. "Tifa… I need you to call everyone up and tell them to get over here as soon as they can."

"Huh?"

The blond shook his head at her confused expression. "I… spoke to a woman named Cosmos. She appeared to me the way Aerith does sometimes? She gave me a warning."

Tifa's face paled. "Trouble?"

"Something big, but I have no idea what."

"I'll tell them to be on guard."

He gave her a nod, then stepped by her to continue down the stairs. "I'm going to the church for a bit. Don't let the kids wander off too far."

"Be careful, Cloud."

* * *

' _There you are, Etro's Chosen. You've taken your sweet in time in trying to find_ my _Chosen._ '

"Who are you?"

' _You don't need to know that yet, but rest assured it will be revealed in time. As will many other things neither of you have begun to think of yet._ '

"Neither of us? Who?"

' _Your partner._ '

Lightning's eyes fluttered open, and she looked in confusion at the Historia Crux, not remembering summoning herself into it. A bark of a laugh was echoing in her ears as she floated along, into a branch of the Crux she vaguely recognized as being the one which led to the world where that man, Cloud Strife, lived. Focusing her power, she reached out to try and find him in his world.

Before she could, however, she found herself being pulled into a field of lilies, with a white sky as far as she could see.

"Huh?"

{ _Lightning?_ }

The pink haired woman whipped around, only to find herself face to face with another woman who had appeared briefly in her forgotten memories. "You…?"

{ _Aerith. I'm not surprised you don't remember me though. Afterall, Cosmos only summoned me as an aid for her warriors._ }

"That's… that's right. You appeared on the battlefield when we needed help." Lightning looked at the kind smile of her former 'comrade', and as she felt more of her memories return she couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity unrelated to their current topic. "You kinda remind me of someone."

{ _Your sister?_ }

"Yeah… Hey, how'd you-"

{ _It's written all over your face!_ } A new voice sounded from her right, making the women turn to watch a tall, raven-haired man approach. { _Man, you and Cloud are a lot alike._ _The second you relax, even a little: BAM! Easy to read_.}

{ _Zack, don't tease_.}

{ _Sorry._ } he laughed, coming to stand beside them.

Lightning cleared her throat. "So, are either of you going to tell me why I'm _here_ , and not back in the Crux on my way to Cloud?"

{ _We wanted to warn you. A lot of us in the Life Stream can sense a change coming. Something has happened, and it's put our world on the path to chaos once more._ }

"Yeah, I know. That's part of the reason why I'm here."

{ _We know. Aerith sensed your power when you reached out to this world and it's timeline. Thing is, we think whatever's coming is way bigger than you think. That lady, Cosmos, used this place as a conduit to speak to Cloud earlier._ }

{ _Cosmos's power is reacting to the changes coming our way. We came to warn you, not of the threat, but of the reaction of her powers to it. We're not sure what's going to happen._ }

"Alright, I'll be careful."

{ _You're not the one we're worried about being reckless._ }

* * *

Cloud sighed softly as he walked into Aerith's church, his eye resting briefly on the water, then the flowers that still bloomed around it, and finally on the Buster Blade. A sense of calm washed over him, and he was quick to find a spot to sit by the edge of the water, up by the flowers and the sword. There, he felt a trickle of warmth in the air, and let himself lean back on his hands to relax a little.

But just as he had begun to let the events of earlier be forgotten for a bit, the air around him seemed to become charged. Cloud was back on his feet in an instant, watching the water in front of him begin to glow. He hesitantly kneeled to reach out to it, but recoiled when a yelp sounded above him. A woman fell through the hole in the ceiling, right into the water, which lost its glow after catching her. The charge in the air faded as well, leaving the strange woman to be his only problem.

Concerned about her fall, the blond slipped into the water and walked over to where she was floating, clearly dazed. Her blue eyes were unfocused, and her pink hair was floating around her head as the strange armor she was wearing began to first glow, then disappear. Relieved to see clothes appear on her (though that uniform was almost as strange as the armor, if not just a bit familiar), he brought his attention back to her face, watching her begin to look around.

Finally her attention came to him, and a slight smile appeared on her face. "Cloud?"


	4. Chapter 3: Remembrance

Chapter 3: Remembrance

"Cloud?"

"Yeah?" his confusion must have been clear on his face; as the woman got to her feet, she shook her head.

"You don't have all your memories back, do you?"

"No?"

"But you recognize me?"

"Kind of." he shrugged.

"I'm Lightning, Lightning Farron." the woman held out her hand, and when Cloud accepted it he couldn't help but feel like he had held it once before. Lightning tightened her grip on his hand before he could pull away, locking eyes with him when she noticed his surprise.

"Lightning?"

"I can help you get your memories back, completely, but you have to trust me."

"Okay," he gave her a nod.

She gave another soft smile, and released his hand to reach up and hold his face. As her hands began to glow, he was aware of the both of them being pulled back into the field where he spoke with Aerith, though it lasted only a moment before they were standing in a cave, a snow storm raging outside. Memories raced through his mind, becoming clear to him in rapid succession. He remembered fighting for Chaos, he remembered Sephiroth wiping his memories time and time again.

He remembered his meetings with Lightning in the cave that sheltered them now, and seeing her fade with Tifa and the others as that dragon creature carried him off, defeated by Chaos, to begin again on the side of Cosmos. All the events that happened after that, finding the crystals, gaining Cosmos's power, defeating Chaos, he even remembered passing through a strange corridor of gears when he was returned to his world.

As the cave faded around them, leaving them back in the water at Aerith's church, Cloud fixed Lightning in an amazed look, and watched a light blush creep across her cheeks.

"Light, I remember now."

"Well that was the plan." she slowly removed her hands from his face. "Unfortunately though, I can't say that I came here only to reconnect with an old friend."

"Friend? Is that how you're putting it?"

"For now, yes. It's been years, Cloud, and from where I was I could see your timeline. You might want to talk to Tifa before restarting anything."

He huffed, but nodded his agreement before walking back to the edge of the floor so he could climb out of the pool. When Lightning went to join him, she was surprised for him to reach down and lift her easily from the water, putting her on her feet in front of him. A brief rush of deja vu flooded both of them before Cloud motioned for her to follow him from the church to where he had parked Fenrir, but before he helped her on something caught his eye.

"Your weapon gonna be okay?"

Lightning looked in surprise to the holster behind her knees, noticing for the first time that she had her Blazefire Saber with her. "Oh, yeah it should be fine. It's been through worse."

WIth another unsure look at her weapon the man climbed onto his motorcycle, motioning for her to do the same. A little wary now, she slowly climbed on behind him, sitting herself carefully on the seat.

"Can you actually drive this thing?"

"Would you rather walk?" he felt her arms wrap around him as she leaned close, apparently choosing to trust him this time. With a low chuckle the man started up Fenrir, and was soon speeding through the Slums on his way back to Edge. Lightning looked over the passing sights curiously, sitting up with her hands holding on to Cloud's hips so she could get a better look at her surroundings before they disappeared. His world was so strange to her, even after watching it change through his timeline. She couldn't help but feel a bit out of place as they begin to pass people, though after reassessing Cloud's appearance she figured she may be able to get away with her own undoubtedly strange clothing.

"Where are we going?"

"You said you saw my timeline right? Did you see the bar?"

"7th Heaven? Yeah, both of them."

"Well we're going to the new one. Tifa's there with the kids." Cloud slowed down as he began to drive through what to her were no more than back alleys. As the bar's logo appeared on a sign ahead of them Lightning watched the two children from the timeline emerge with bright smiles on their faces, waving at the blond as he came to a stop.

"Cloud! You're back already?" the boy looked over Lightning curiously as she climbed from behind the man. "Who's this?"

The girl's smile didn't change at all as she turned her attention to the newcomer, letting Cloud go park his motorcycle. "Are you a friend of Cloud's?"

"Yes, I am. I'm Lightning." she gave them both a soft smile as she held out her hand. "But, you two can call me Light. It's good to meet you, Marlene, Denzel."

Denzel seemed surprised as he shook her hand. "Did Cloud tell you about us?"

"You could say that."

Cloud gave a grunt as he came back to them, opening the door to the bar for the trio to enter ahead of him. "Tifa! We got company!"

Tifa looked at Lightning, a vague sense of awareness apparent on her features. "Hello."

"Hi, Tifa." the new arrival left Cloud's side, walking over to the woman so she could speak to her in a hushed tone even Cloud's sensitive hearing couldn't catch. He watched, deciding it best no to interrupt, as Lightning reached up to cup Tifa's face, her hands glowing as they had back at the church. In a moment, Tifa's confused look faded into a soft smile, and she gave her old friend a hug.

"Light, I can't believe you're here!"

"I wish it were for a better reason though."

Marlene walked over to the two women with a frown, looking between them and Cloud. "Are you here because of the trouble they were talking about?"

"Sorry, but I am." Lightning put a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "There's something incredibly bad coming this way, and this time you guys are going to need a bit more help."

"It can't be worse than everything with Sephiroth and Meteor!" Denzel's voice rang with confidence. "Cloud can handle it!"

"Of course he can, but I'm afraid it's going to be much, _much_ worse than Sephiroth." the boy's face fell into one of uncertainty. "I wouldn't be here otherwise."

"But if you're a friend of Cloud's why wouldn't you be here if it's really going to be that bad?" Marlene captured Lightning's gaze again. "This is your world too, why wouldn't you help?"

The adults exchanged a look Cloud motioned for everyone to follow him to the booth by the bar's window. "Kids, you're going to want to sit down for this."


	5. Chapter 4: Clearing

Chapter 4: Clearing

"Marlene, Denzel, can you promise me that you'll try to believe what I'm going to tell you?" Lightning had a serious look on her face as she sat beside Cloud, her gaze shooting to Tifa, who sat across from her with the kids. "You too Tifa, Cloud. I didn't show you everything from my side of things."

"Just from our time together?" Tifa guessed.

"Yes."

"We'll try to understand then."

The kids nodded in agreement, their eyes fixed on the woman. She sighed, shaking her head for a moment before she returned their gaze.

"Let me start at the beginning. I was born in a place called Cocoon, a relatively small world of its own floating above the surface of a world called Pulse…"

Cloud watched the children stare in wonder at the rose-haired woman, on the edge of their seats as she began to tell them about her world, and her family. She told them about Serah, and the events of what she called the "Thirteen Days", how she and a group of people who became her friends fought to save their world from something called Ragnarok, and how two of her friends sacrificed themselves to form a mighty crystal pillar that held her home, Cocoon, aloft, keeping it from crashing into the planet below. She told them about how she had been reunited with her sister, but quickly taken away by some other force that ripped her from her world and threw her into the Historia Crux, the hall of gears Cloud and Tifa now remembered from their return home. Lightning described the way her memories had played around her as she crossed it before she was thrown into a place called Valhalla, and how she had traversed this strange world to appear before the Goddess of Death, Etro, who asked her to become her warrior.

"The Warrior Goddess?" Cloud was curious, and couldn't help but interrupt. "Is that why you had that armor on when you fell into the church?"

"Yes," she closed her eyes for a moment, and allowed her uniform to be replaced by the very armor Cloud was speaking of. "But I do more than just fight for Etro, I also safeguard the flow of time for my world. It was there, before her throne, that you re-appeared to me Cloud, standing beside me in Valhalla with another man I don't quite recognize. Then, I found out I could reach out to _your_ timeline. I knew from the first vision that you were in some kind of trouble, but it wasn't until I found your world's timeline that I really realized why."

"And that's why you came here to find him?" Marlene looked like she was about to fall out of the booth. "Because of the trouble?"

"But what is it?" Denzel leaned forward on the table. "If you're actually a goddess, it has to be really bad!"

"It's something unlike anything you've faced before. If you thought Sephiroth and his god- _complex_ were bad, wait until we're up against an _actual_ god." Lightning looked at Cloud. "I don't know yet which one is it, but I know it's one of the more powerful ones. And, I know he's not alone. But, despite the fact I'm here to help, I'm not entirely sure how long I can actually remain here. I'm supposed to safeguard my world's time, but it's messed up right now. My younger sister and a man from what could be the end of my world's time are traveling the timeline right now, working to set it straight. Even I don't know what the final outcome will be, or how I'll be affected."

"You said you saw Cloud beside you in Valhalla?" Tifa looked between the two. "Does that mean it could affect him too?"

Cloud looked thoughtful for a moment. "Cosmos told me that the threat coming our way has rewritten my fate, and when it's over I won't be the same. If Light saw me in Valhalla, maybe she means I'm being written out of this world's history like Lightning was, and it's going to send me with her to Valhalla."

"But we don't know who the other man in my vision was," Lightning pointed out. "He stood _with_ us, so I don't think we can really overlook him."

"Did you see anything about him that stood out?" Tifa was trying to be helpful, but you could hear the doubt in her voice. "Anything?"

"No, he wasn't clearly defined at all. But I could tell he was tall, much taller than Cloud."

"That's a lot of people. Sorry Cloud."

"Yes, I'm short, I _know_." the blond seethed, effectively cutting the tense atmosphere that had threatened to overtake them. "How do you think I feel standing next to Vincent? It's not pleasant."

The kids laughed, bringing even the women into giggles. Cloud sulked beside Lightning, but perked up when he noticed something outside.

"Speak of the devil."

"That's not nice Cloud." Vincent looked over the group with a neutral look on his face as he entered the bar. His gaze barely touched on Lightning, but in that instant she felt her spine stiffen, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. In the split second his gaze had met hers, an intensity she couldn't describe seemed to shoot through her. Cloud hissed in pain when the woman's nails suddenly dug into his hand, jerking her out of her own head.

"Light, what happened?" Cloud looked at the bright red mark on his hand.

"I don't know. I - is there a bathroom around here?"

"Upstairs." the group watched the woman leave, rather hastily, wondering what had happened to her. Vincent, too, seemed a little concerned, looking at Cloud as soon as she was out of view.

"Who's she?"

"An old friend. I'm going to check on her." Cloud had an unreadable look on his face as he stood to follow the woman, and it was still in place when he found her staring at her reflection in the mirror of his bathroom. "Lightning?"

"That friend of yours, what is he?"

"You noticed?" the blond watched her gaze turn to him. "He has… other things inside him. A ShinRa scientist put them there."

"They sensed my power immediately, I could see them swarming in his eyes."

"Is that why you had to step away?"

She nodded. "That's not the only reason though. Have you known him long?"

"A good few years now, yeah. Why?"

"He wasn't in your timeline the way Tifa and the kids were, but when we locked eyes it was like everything I saw in your timeline shifted, and suddenly he was there, as if he had been all along. It was like his existence had been… _sheltered_ from me somehow."

"What?"

"That's not all though. Cloud, he was the other man in my vision."

"Are you sure? You said you couldn't-"

"The timeline wasn't then only thing to shift. The haze, or whatever it was that obscured him in the vision, it cleared away."

"You saw the vision again?"

"No, it was my memory of it. Like with the timeline, it was like he had been there all along."

Cloud gave her a thoughtful look, before something darkened his gaze. "Lightning, I think you and Vincent need to talk."

"Yeah, once my head stops spinning."


	6. Chapter 5: Summon

Chapter 5: Summon

Vincent's gaze was piercing as it rested squarely on Lightning's face, seeming to take in every detail as she told him the story she had earlier told the bar's residents, and making a special note of how she had not known about his presence until she had locked eyes with him after his arrival. The former Turk didn't seem all that curious to the others, but there was something in that burning red gaze that kept Lightning's attention, and kept her hair standing on end.

"I just have one question." The woman seemed surprised when he finally spoke to her, and Cloud didn't miss the slight echo to his friend's voice. "How long were you in contact with the Chaos?"

"Chaos?" Lightning seemed concerned, her brow furrowing.

"I can feel its energy coming from you, so you must have had very heavy contact with it somehow."

"I'm not sure I could say. Everything is so different between our worlds, what you call Chaos here could be something entirely different there."

He seemed to accept her answer, barely tilting his head to look at the worried blond that seemed to be rethinking everything. "Galian is reacting especially heavily to her, keep watch."

"Thanks for the warning." Tifa ignored her old friend's clear confusion, giving her a smile instead. "Oh he doesn't mean to watch you Light."

"Galian is one of those things I mentioned earlier," Cloud spoke up in agreement, shrugging as he walked over to the bar to get a drink. "He means we should keep an eye on _him_ in case something triggers a release."

Marlene giggled from where she sat beside the raven haired man, the only one in the room that was unfazed by everything going on, if Denzel's pondering look was anything to go off of. Vincent let the girl run her fingers over the golden gauntlet that covered his left hand, every once in a while twitching one of the fingers to make her jump a little. The sight calmed Lightning a little, though her hair was definitely not laying flat yet. The Turk could tell she had questions for him, but a shake of his head and another look seemed to make her understand he wasn't planning on answering any of them.

With a slightly defeated look, Lightning gave a nod before she got up from the table to go join Denzel at the bar. The boy looked curiously up at her through his bangs, then tilted his head back to get a better look. She arched her brow at him, hardly noticing Cloud set a drink in front of her.

"Something wrong Denzel?"

The boy looked over at Cloud, then back at her, leaning in close and motioning for her to do the same. Cupping his hands around his mouth he leaned close to her ear, another quick glance at his blond guardian making it clear he didn't want to be overhead.

"Do you like Cloud?"

The choking sound that came from the former SOLDIER as he coughed up whatever it was that he had been trying to swallow made it painfully obvious Denzel had failed. With Tifa's attention now fully on them, and Cloud trying not to die, Lightning gave Denzel a small smile and a brief nod before hurrying to her friend's side, grabbing his shoulders and forcing him to stand straight in an effort to help clear his lungs.

"Geeze Cloud, you survived being stabbed by Sephiroth how many times, but you're going to go down because of a little soda?"

Red faced from choking, the man shook his head. "Not."

"Good, because it would really suck if I came all this way to help you and you died before anything even happened." despite her words Lightning was rubbing the man's back, a gentle look on her face as she waited for him to catch his breath. "Did you used to be asthmatic?"

"When I was a kid, why?"

"Most people panic when they start choking like that, but you just seemed to accept it."

Cloud nodded, wiping his mouth on a towel and earning a soft protest from Tifa for it. "I had all kinds of problems when I was a kid, but it didn't slow me down too much. Once I starting working for ShinRa I went through health routines people back home had never even heard of and most of the problems either went away or became less of a problem. After soaking in Mako for nine years though, they all seemed to just… be gone."

"Because of Makos effects on the human body." Vincent hadn't moved from his seat in the window, though Marlene was standing beside Denzel at the bar.

"Oh yeah I remember hearing that somewhere." the woman nodded, seemingly to herself. "When I was found your world I had to look through the timeline to find your present I mean."

"How did you figure that out?" the brunette's voice held a tinge of curiosity, his red eyes locked on her again.

"I couldn't see anything past the point I saw him at the church alone, the moment I kinda fell into," she scratched her cheek. "That means that particular point in time was the last thing in the timeline that was definite."

"Therefore making it the 'present' you needed to come to?"

"Yeah," Lightning looked at her old friends, then at the other three. Cloud rubbed his neck as he returned her look, then looked at Tifa.

"When are the others due to get here?"

"Cid is going to get Yuffie from Wutai, and Barrett was down by Gongaga. They both said they'll be here sometime tomorrow morning."

He seemed satisfied, and put his hand on Lightning's shoulder. "Then the only thing left to do is figure out if there's anything else we need to tell them once they get here."

There was a look on her face that made him refrain from saying anything else, but it was Vincent's gaze that she returned when she decided to look up again.

"I think the three of us have to more to figure out than we really know."

"Is something wrong?" the man seemed to decide that now was the best time to get up and join the others at the bar.

"Something is calling me, something buried in this planet, and I don't mean the Life Stream." she looked up at Cloud. "But it's not for me to answer."

"Lightning?"

"Cloud, whatever this call is, it's meant for you, and it's incredibly powerful."

A little more concerned, the blond tried to give her a reassuring look, but he could feel Tifa and Vincent's gazes locked on him, feeling like they were burning his skin. Something else was putting him on edge though, a sense of danger that was prickling his skin and making him want to grab whatever sharp object was closest to him. It was a sense that Lightning seemed to share, judging by the goosebumps that were barely noticable on her arms. Was that feeling the call she was talking about? He did feel like something was urging him forward, making him fight against himself, to keep from running from the bar. Meeting Vincent's gaze he could tell the man was also uncomfortable, though he didn't give it away nearly as much.

Tifa looked between the three, feeling as though something was happening that she shouldn't interfere with, but there was a sense of foreboding running through her like electricity, and she tapped her fingers against her leg to keep from showing it too much. "I feel like something's coming."

Lightning nodded. "Marlene, Denzel, could you two go upstairs for a bit?"

Whatever was in the air must have been clear to the children as well, as they didn't give the slightest protest before going behind the bar to head for the residential space above them. Cloud and Lightning walked out from behind the bar to join Tifa and Vincent by the stools in front of it.

Vincent's gun was pointed at the door a moment later, firing off shots before Lightning could finish getting Blazefire from its holster. The now shattered door gave way, a strange man collapsing with it. He was dressed rather strangely, but hardly any different from the people Lightning had seen in the city when she had ridden through with Cloud. However, there was hardly a minute before his hole-riddled body faded away in a black smoke.

"A scout?" came Cloud's concerned question.

"Must have been."

"But for who?"

Lightning seemed to have an answer on the tip of her tongue, but a metallic ringed howl ripped through the bar before she could answer. Cloud covered his ears, falling to his knees as the sound echoed through him, Lightning and Tifa both wrapping their arms around him until the sound faded. Vincent stood in front of the trio, gun at the ready, not looking at them until his own ears started ringing.

"What was that?"

"It sounded like an Eidolon's call." Lightning put a hand on Tifa's shoulder before helping Cloud to his feet. "I think I know what we need to do, but we need to go somewhere with a lot of space and no people."

"The wastelands." Tifa was shaking, rubbing her hands together as if they had fallen asleep. "Other than Midgar, it's the only place around here like that."

"Midgar wouldn't be safe right now, so the wastelands is probably our best bet," Cloud agreed. "But what is an Eidolon?"

"A summon, from my world. But they were only supposed to appear to L'Cie like me." the woman seemed confused. "Whatever it is, we need to go to the wastelands so we can figure it out."

"Why?" Vincent's question seemed unusually cold, as if he had suddenly lost any trust he had begun to have in the newcomer.

"If it is and Eidolon, or something like one, my partner should be able to bring it out."

"Partner?"

"Odin."


End file.
